Lawrence and the Enjuku Racing team hit the Texas Motor Speedway track and tell us how they dealt with the rain and his battle with Piotr Wiecek! Enjoy and see you guys at the last round in Irwindale, CA!
“Hey everybody! It’s that time again where I get to share with you how my weekend went at Formula Drift, This time from Dallas, TX!
Thursday Practice.
After a great time in St. Louis I was eager to get out to Texas and drive. We took 6 laps total on Thursday with some slight progression in dialing in my line. We decided to call it early since the weather was looking like rain for Friday and I didn’t want to take all my allotted 12 practice laps in the dry in case it was to be raining for qualifying.
Friday.
The weather was still calling for rain but now much later in the day. We went out to practice and it would seem like we would luck out and be able to practice and get our qualifying in before the rain hit. The first pair of runs now earlier in the day than on Thursday showed the track had actually lost a bit of grip in some areas but picked up some in others. We removed my rear sway bar but upped the tire pressure a bit as my car was washing out on turn 1 but was also struggling to get out to the outer zones. I was only able to get in 2 more laps before qualifying and was feeling frustrated as I had yet to put down a solid pass checking off all the clips and zones.
Qualifying pass 1 I leave the gate and again wash out a bit on turn 1 leaving some points on the table at inner clip 1. I get to outside zone1 but short come to the touch and go before making the dive tight into inner clip 2. Transition into outer zone 2 a bit early and don’t quite reach out to it and wrap tight around the final turn and inner clip 3.
I was awarded a 70 for this run so I would have to clean it up for run 2.
Qualifying pass 2 I enter into turn 1 with a much tighter line and clean up my first half of the run. Deeper into outer zone 1 but still struggle to get to the touch and go which put me on a very tight line to inner clip 2. I barely squeeze by it after taking some angle out and again transition too soon before outer zone 2. Leave again quite a bit of point on the line there before another tight pass through the final turn before bumping the last inner clip. Being I cleaned up the first half of the run my score this time around was a 74. After all the drivers completed their runs we had a quick drivers meeting to go over our qualifying order. I ended up qualifying 30th this round and would be up battling Piotr Wiecek in the Worthouse S15.
Saturday
Knowing I was struggling yesterday with the line I knew I would have to put it all together and lay down some good practice runs to be ready for battle with Piotr. I was able to get in 5 runs all of which would have been much higher scored qualifying runs so needless to say a nights rest to clear my mind and start fresh was exactly what I needed. The car was running amazing and seemed to be on par or better speed wise with some of the fastest cars on the grid.
pulling up to the line I am in the chase position and ready for battle. The lights go out and off we go, I am aggressive on the run-up not leaving much distance between Piotr and myself. He initiates into the first turn and I make my dive right on his door I have to fall off just a bit to avoid some contact which puts my front bumper right on his rear wheel. I bump him a bit about 3/4 through the first turn and again just before the first inner clip. I have to choke up a bit behind him going into the first rear zone and transition wide behind him before going into the touch and go where I am able to reel him in again. As we dive towards inner clip 2 I hesitate to get on the throttle as I am blinded by the smoke and don’t want to make big contact and knock him off his line. Coming through the smoke I see he has pulled some distance which forces me to take a shallower line through the final rear zone before catching up some distance and finishing tight to the final inner clip. At this point, my blood is pumping and I’m super stoked on the run. We pull back to the line for my turn to lead, I jump the line twice before the lights go out from just being super excited. On the third attempt to send us we get a clean start and off I go. I manji enter into the turn and am immediately on the throttle. I pull about 1.5 cars on Piotr into the first turn, he gains some proximity before having to check up to get around inner clip 1. At this time I pull an even larger gap on Piotr going into outer zone 1 and transitioning into the touch and go. Big angle and tight on inner clip 2 that Piotr ends up taking out and I transition deep into the second rear zone before finishing off the run tight on the final clip with still a dominate gap on Piotr. The judges go over both replays a few times before making their decision during this time Piotr got out of his car to tell me what an awesome run it was and how surprised he was on my cars ability to pull away, the judges come back and voted 2-1 for an OMT battle so we have to run again which caught both myself and I think Piotr by surprise.
OMT.
Toss on a fresh set of tires and were back at the line. I knew I would have to be just as aggressive on this battle in the chase so I pushed a bit harder. I ended up going a bit too hard which pushed me on a bit of a wider line and I washed out the front end some and my rear tires ended up on the marbles on the wider line. I tighten up just as we go through inner clip 1 and giver her all she’s got through the power alley and into the touch and go where I’m able to dive in a bit. Again I get blinded by the smoke and transition a bit too early going into the final rear zone before finishing off the run with a bit of space behind Piotr. Pulling back to the start line in the lead lane I know I need Piotr to make a big mistake in order for me to win however that doesn’t happen often at all. Out of the gate, I do a big Manji entry into turn one, I am on a bit of a wide line but tighten it up again through the inner clip. Through the clip, I pull a big gap on Piotr again and transition into the touch and go before diving into inner clip three and going deep into outer zone 2. Finishing out the run on a decent line but my first lead was much better. Piotr was able to gain proximity to me before the finish line while doing well keeping on my same line in the latter half of the run. The judges review the runs and Piotr is announced the winner and would advance into the top 16 ending my weekend in TX.
Overall the weekend was amazing, I was lucky enough to dodge all driving in the rain in both practice and battles and everything with the car went smooth. The car is insanely fast and I’m getting so much more comfortable with it and comfortable in the chase position. Huge shout out to all the Sponsors of our program, the team for keeping me and the car together and cool, as well as all our fans. You all play a big part in our program and we wouldn’t be out here doing what we love without your support so Thank You! I am really excited to be heading to Irwindale as I have not driven there since 2015 and was able to get a 3rd place finish there in Pro2 so I’m hoping to replicate that again now being in Pro1.
Thanks again, I’ll see everyone in California in 2.5 weeks!
-Kevin”
Kevin is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.
